, ,

 

          On March 13th, 2026, the Emergency Ordinance no. 17/2026 amending and supplementing certain legislative acts (hereinafter referred to as “GEO no. 17/2026” or the “ordinance”) has entered into force. Although the ordinance also addresses other areas, including the environmental sector, one of its most significant implications for the business environment concerns the changes introduced to the foreign direct investments sector. 

GEO no. 17/2026 introduces two major amendments to the Emergency Ordinance no. 46/2022 on measures to implement Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 19, 2019, establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union, as well as amending and supplementing Competition Law No. 21/1996. These amendments consist of:

1.The inclusion, within the sphere of investments that are subject to the screening process, the investments through which an investor acquires tangible and/or intangible assets in sensitive sectors for the purpose of conducting an economic activity.

In the case of tangible and/or intangible asset acquisition operations, the sensitive sectors are: critical and advanced technologies, critical infrastructure, pharmaceutical, defense and defense industry, as well as the agri-food sector.  

 2.The increase to 5000.000 euros of the threshold above which investments are subject to the screening process.

 

In addition to the above, GEO no. 17/2026 also provides that:

  • If two or more investments are carried out within a one-year period between the same persons or entities, involve the same entity and have a similar or interdependent purpose, a single application for authorization covering all of the investments may be submitted.
  • Two or more interdependent investments carried out within one year by the same persons, each individually falling below the threshold of 5 million euros are considered now a single investment. In this case, the notification obligation arises when the cumulative value reaches the legal threshold.
  • Restructurings or reorganizations carried out by investors from the European Union or from states that have acceded to the OECD Codes on the Liberalization of Capital Movements and Current Invisible Transactions are not subject to the notification requirement, provided that there is no change in effective control or beneficial ownership and that the financing is intra-group or comes exclusively from the European Union or from states adhering to the respective OECD Codes;
  • The deadline by which the investor must provide to the Commission for Foreign Direct Investment Screening the requested additional information has been extended to 30 calendar days. In justified cases, an additional period of 15 calendar days may be granted.
  • The investment review fee has been decreased to 5 000 euros.
  • If the CEISD informs the Competition Council in writing that a notified merger is likely to pose risks to national security and initiates a detailed review of the application for authorization, the deadlines for responding to the notification regarding the merger are suspended as of the date of registration of this communication.

Feel free to reach out if you would like to understand how these updates may affect your business.

Author